Jackpot winner was mystery, even to himself

Saturday

Jan 4, 2014 at 12:01 AMJan 4, 2014 at 12:37 PM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The elusive winner of a massive December lottery jackpot has come forward in California, after spending much of the past two weeks not realizing that he had won $324 million, officials said.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The elusive winner of a massive December lottery jackpot has come forward in California, after spending much of the past two weeks not realizing that he had won $324 million, officials said.

Delivery driver Steve Tran showed up late Thursday at the Sacramento office of the California Lottery, brandishing the winning ticket from the Dec. 17 Mega Millions drawing, lottery spokesman Alex Traverso said yesterday.

Tran, who lives in northern California, and a jackpot winner from Georgia will split the $648 million jackpot..

When the winning numbers were drawn, it was clear that one had been sold in San Jose. But Tran had forgotten that he had purchased five tickets at Jennifer’s Gift Shop on a family trip to the Silicon Valley city.

For days, Tran said, he followed the story of the missing winner, not realizing he was the one until about 3 a.m. Monday, Traverso said in a news release.

“I woke up in the middle of the night,” he told lottery officials. “I remembered: I think I went to San Jose.”

Tran got up, checked his tickets and sure enough, he was the winner. He opted to take his share in a single lump sum, which amounts to $173.8 million before taxes.

Federal taxes will take a 25 percent bite, but he is not required to pay California taxes on his win. Had he taken his winnings over 30 years, he would have collected the $324 million.

Tran will split the jackpot with Ira Curry, 56, of Stone Mountain, Ga., who also opted to take her money in a lump sum.

After hugging his wife, Tran called his boss to say he wasn’t coming in, ever again.

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